Kenny Jackett admits 'selfish' attitude existed among some Portsmouth players concerned for themselves

The Blues boss feels he’s put paid to players putting their own situations before the club as they chase promotion.

Jackett’s view there was an element of self-centred sentiment among his squad comes as he prepares to deal with a number of bodies returning to the fray.

Six fit senior players were left out at Lincoln on Tuesday night with Pompey possessing burgeoning options once again.

Gareth Evans, Brett Pitman, Oli Hawkins, Brandon Haunstrup, Paul Downing and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild were the men not involved at Sincil Bank.

Jackett feels it’s imperative the club is put first in the midst of the promotion bid.

He said: ‘Brett’s not happy because he’s out of the side but working away.

‘Gareth similarly, but who wants to be out of the team?

‘From my view, we were a little bit too selfish at the start of the season.

‘It was a little too much “what about me?”. It has to be about the club. It has to be.

‘We get paid to put Portsmouth first. That’s our job and it’s similar with the players

‘I get that mainly a club’s needs have to overlap a player’s needs in their career. Okay, that’s the ideal.

‘But similarly it’s difficult to do it with 11.

‘Someone asked if I’m asked by players out of the team about their situation.

‘Tell me a way to do it with 11 players in my job and it’ll be okay. It doesn’t work out that way.’

Pompey face eight games next month as the fixtures continue mount up as they battle on three fronts.

And that has led to Jackett stressing the importance of focus on the job at hand over personal circumstances.

He reiterated that means all talk of contracts remain off the agenda at present.

Jackett added: ‘We have to put the club first and sort out individual situations in the summer. That’s a big thing.

‘It’s a team game. Play as a team. The message to the players is exactly the same.

‘That’s the most important thing. I’m happy to talk about someone’s personal situation - but not too many times.

‘It can’t be all about individuals. Somewhere along the line when you have eight games in a month it has to be about one cause - everybody put their shoulders to the wheel.’